What was your favourite childhood book and why?
I was one of those kids who just loves books – they really were my most precious things. I’d be hard pushed to pick just one, but I think it probably would have been DOUBLE ACT by Jacqueline Wilson – a book about twins really chimed with me because I was really close to my sister, and I thought having different illustrators for Ruby and Garnet was a stroke of genius. Otherwise, it would have been my complete Horrible Histories set – I was a complete anorak about them.
Which of your own books is your favourite and why?
An impossible question! They all have their own little space in my heart, I think because I always try to challenge myself in some way with each one. I think I’ll always feel most fondly about THE MIDNIGHT GUARDIANS because it’s been such a sea-change for me and my career – something about that book connected with people in a way that the others hadn’t before. Maybe it’s because it’s my best writing, or my best story – maybe it’s because it has a badger in a waistcoat.
Why do you choose to read?
I have a habit of forgetting to read every now and then – often it’s because I feel like I’m too busy. When I do start reading again, I always feel like I could kick myself – why on earth did I stop?! It literally just makes me feel better: it makes my life more fulfilling and fulfilled in the easiest and simplest possible way. There’s nothing like the feeling of enjoying a book so much that you can’t WAIT to have some time to yourself where you can dive in again.
